Bandit test ride

[gbw]

Ok, so this is a GSF story...sort of.

I've been itching to test ride a GSF1250 and posted as such on the Maximum Suzuki site. A member there (Ed) lives not far from me and offered to let me ride his, suggesting that the weather Sunday (yesterday) was going to be nice.

I invited Joe Nardy to join us. We met up near my house just after noon and went to meet Ed and his brother in Elburn IL. Joe knows I've got "new bike fever", so just to confuse me even further he let me ride his VFR from our meeting place to Elburn. What a SWEET ride!

The nice thing about meeting in Elburn is its a little further out in the country than Joe and I live. No real twisties, but less traffic.

Here are the only pics I took yesterday. Sorry for the poor quality...Blackberry.

Here is the 07 Bandit 1250 I got to ride for a little while

Joe's 04(?) VFR with my V-Strom in the background

Ed's brother's Z-Rex. I love the looks of these and it sounded sweet!

We rode about 100 miles. I think Ed and his brother would fit in well with the GS crowd. They are skilled riders and great guys and I enjoyed meeting and riding with both of them. We tore up the back roads around the cornfields for a few hours and made it home by 4:30 with a few stops to talk, get gas, and talk about bikes, politics, and The Bears (which was a depressing conversation yesterday).

A few comments about my short ride on Ed's Bandit if anyone is interested:
* Ed is 6'5" vs my 5'8" and his bike is set up accordingly
* His set up includes: 1" up bar risers, tall windscreen, 1" mirror extenders, lowered foot pegs, and has front seat on its high setting and the rear seat on its low setting which make for a nice flat place to sit.

I really liked the power of the 1250. Its smooth and sweet and ready to go from any gear. The bike didn't really feel fast but when I looked down the speedo I realized just how fast it was . The risers helped a lot. They will be on my list when I buy a Bandit. The windscreen was better than stock but not perfect for me. All in all it was great ride and I really appreciate Ed swapping bikes with me for a few miles.

 

[Redman]

Greg,

Interesting way to check out a model of bike.

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Maximum-Suzuki is the premier resource on the internet for the DR and DRZ motorcycles, and the Bandit family of motorcycles, this includes the Katana series and the old-school GSX-R from 1985 to 1992. Maximum-Suzuki is dedicated to providing the riders of these bikes a place to exchange information, without all the distractions often caused by squids and posers.
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And sounds like you didn't have any squids or posers.

.

 

[Larry D]

Nice !!!!

I knew there would be alot of midwesterners out this weekend, the weather was fantastic !!!!!

Still not the same as Brown County though.

 

[82Shafty]

Elburn is about an hour north/west of me. Roadrash and I were out tearing up the likes of Newark, Millington, Milbrook Fox Springs State Park, and then made our way south and west to Sheridan this past Saturday.

 

[Roadrash]

Sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday..........Did you get to test ride the Kawasaki ZRX, I like the retro look.

 

[gbw]

Still not the same as Brown County though.

So true Larry...so true!

 

[gbw]

Did you get to test ride the Kawasaki ZRX

Well no, but not for lack of trying. I asked if he didn't want to ride my Vee for a while but he declined Wish I could have. Those have been on my short list for a while but none of them are fuel injected and in my lazy old man state of mind I find that I really like that piece of technology.